Star Fox: Heroic Universe
Star Fox: Heroic Universe is a shooter/adventure game developed by Argonaut and published by Nintendo exclusively for the Wave. It's the culmination of the "Argonautverse" crossover event that's stretched across three years and four games, and brings together the characters and worlds from Squad Four, X, and Star Fox. The game features a mix of on-rails gameplay, 3-D space shooter gameplay, and on-foot adventure gameplay, with six different vehicles and a myriad of different weapons and playable characters, many of which can be chosen by players from a number of options presented at the start of each mission. The game has 25 total playable story missions and three side missions, though a playthrough only requires 18 of the game's missions to be completed. Within these missions, a variety of different scenarios can play out, so one person's playthrough of the game's story mode is rarely the same as another person's. Most missions will feature either Arwing gameplay or on-foot gameplay. The on-foot gameplay has essentially the same combat system from Squad Four Upheaval, though with some enhancements that are mostly related to the game's crossover aspects. The on-rails Arwing gameplay allows for numerous route changes and diversions, and the player is constantly getting feedback about what certain allies are doing. The 3-D all range Arwing gameplay allows for the most freedom, including direct intervention to rescue an endangered comrade. The game also features tanks, both the Landmaster tank and General Xenda's X tank, the Hypercycle from Star Fox 3, the Wingmarine, and a new vehicle, the Gargantua, a Voltron-like giant robot used for certain boss fights and parts of the final few missions. As for mission selection, there are mandatory missions that must be played through in a certain order, but then the game opens up and allows players to choose from a number of different missions, with "hotspots" opening up that indicate a certain character may need assistance. These "hotspots" open up based on actions performed during previous missions, so for example, completing a certain objective may open up a mission that wasn't otherwise available. Sometimes, a passed up mission must eventually be completed, but its parameters will change depending on what missions were completed before it. The game itself contains a variety of worlds, with about two-thirds of them being from previous Star Fox, Squad Four, or X games, and the others being entirely new. The hyperspace gateways from Star Fox: Hyperspace return, allowing for quick traversal of the entire galaxy, with Lockstar (from Squad Four) and Corneria (from Star Fox) both playing integral roles in the game itself. When starting a mission, the screen lets the player know which characters are available to play as and which may become available to play as later in the level. Sometimes the player must start with a specific character, while other times the player is able to choose. Playable characters in the game are Fox, Falco, Slippy, Krystal, Shad, Marcus, Rebecca, Lane, and Xenda, and each character has their own specific vehicles and abilities. Of the Squad Four team members, only Rebecca can pilot the Arwing, while Xenda is the only person in the game capable of piloting the X tank, and the Gargantua tank is only able to be piloted by all nine characters at once. Once the player is within a mission, depending on circumstances, the player may be able to switch to another character in another part of the stage. Doing so will usually allow the player to access a part of the level or a secret that would have been otherwise inaccessible (or even fight a different boss), but may also make the level harder. Sometimes, switching up will keep the level largely the same, but will allow the player to fight a boss in a different vehicle or even on foot. Sometimes the player will want to switch up simply to save another character who would have been taken out of the action otherwise, though they can also intervene to save a character themselves if possible, as generally, having more characters alive will make the end mission boss easier. Every mission in the game except for the first three missions has at least one alternate possibility, and there's one mission that allows the player to complete it with ANY of the nine playable characters on completely different paths. Completed missions can be replayed any time the player wants (the game saves after every completed level) and the player can even choose to go back and take an alternate route at any time. Players do have limited lives in each level, when the character they're controlling currently is killed, a life is lost (which does make it advantageous to switch if possible if a character is low on health), losing all lives will cause the player to have to restart the mission over again, though there are certain long missions that have "super checkpoints" that will allow the player to go back to that super checkpoint if they lose all their lives. Star Fox: Heroic Universe features some of the best graphics of any Wave game, with Argonaut really pushing the Wave's capabilities quite hard. The game features the same voice actors from each of the separate Argonaut Wave games, with all the Star Fox and Squad Four actors reprising their roles. Heroic Universe also features an extensive local and online multiplayer mode that features deathmatch combat for up to four players, who can engage in a variety of modes and use a variety of weapons and vehicles in battle. The soundtrack is a mix of remixed songs from the three Argonaut franchises and entirely new material, with about half of the songs being remixes and half of the songs being new.
The main plot of Heroic Universe focuses on a prince named Malphus who has become a powerful dark wizard. He lives on a planet in Lockstar's solar system (and it's later revealed that he and Rebecca were childhood friends and that Rebecca was once "betrothed" to him). Malphus has been studying dark magic and powerful technology, and he has discovered a way to bring the two together, but requires the help of the infamous (but deceased) evil genius Andross. Malphus is able to revive Andross, who immediately sets about to conquer the Lylat system. When Malphus reveals Lockstar to him, Andross sets his sights on Lockstar as well, and decides he wants to rule the entire galaxy. Utilizing Malphus' dark magic, Andross is able to conjure up an army of evil more powerful than anything the galaxy has ever seen before.
Part One: Bringing The Squads Together
Missions 1-3 are basic missions that introduce players to the Star Fox and Squad Four teams, along with General Xenda. Mission 1 is a basic on-rails Arwing mission where the Star Fox team investigates a mysterious occurrence on Venom, only to run into a powerful boss robot that they defeat just barely. Mission 2 has Squad Four on foot on the mysterious world where they were seemingly attacked in Star Fox: Hyperspace. They escape their predicament and discover a cosmic wormhole created by an offshoot of Malphus' dark energy. Passing through it, they arrive on Venom just in time to bail out Star Fox. Mission 3 has Xenda and his army battling against an army of tanks on another world led by a powerful evil mercenary hired by Malphus. Xenda gains victory and sets his sights on Venom, where his army meets Star Fox and Squad Four.
Part Two: Outbreak
The heroes unite just in time, because at that moment Malphus launches a massive, coordinated attack on the Lylat System. The player gets their first taste of the "hotspot" and perspective switching systems in the missions that play out on these familiar worlds. The Star Fox team's old buddy Bill makes an appearance on a mandatory mission during this phase of the game, in which he seemingly sacrifices himself to stop a massive battle mech from destroying a city. While the heroes obtain some crucial victories during this phase, it seems like it's all for naught as they crash land together on a deserted world on the outskirts of the Lylat system.
Part Three: Here We Go Again
Part three of the game plays out somewhat like a traditional Squad Four game, having all the heroes marooned on an ancient planet for three missions in a row. Here's where some really interesting character interactions take place as the heroes try to unite with one another. The player does get a bit of choice on which characters they want to focus on during the missions. Rebecca reunites with Malphus again and the two have a plot-heavy conversation in which Rebecca tries to reason with him but he rebukes her. It seems like Rebecca is going to get an Upheaval-style capture sequence here, but not in this game: she stabs him with one of her energy swords when he tries to grab her (his dark energy heals the wound but this does allow her to get away). There's also some fun interactions between Lane and Slippy, some badass Fox/Shad hero moments, a bit of flirting between Marcus and Krystal, and some neat old-timer interactions between Peppy and Xenda. Star Wolf also makes a memorable appearance, being sent to the planet in order to take the heroes out from the sky, though Wolf gets shot down. The final boss of the three mission sequence is a one on one hand to hand fight between Fox and Wolf, before the heroes are able to get off world.
Part Four: Lockstar In Peril
Events in this part of the game will eventually lead the heroes back to the Lockstar system for a climactic battle sequence over the planet. We se Rebecca flying an Arwing like a badass here, while Katt Monroe also shows up to save the Squad Four team's ass at one point. Xenda and his tank army also play a crucial role in repelling the threat to Lockstar, though the planet's capital city sustains some massive destruction, and Pigma, Leon, and the new leader of Star Wolf, an anthropomorphic eagle named Haast, manage to abduct Lockstar's president, Alice Stroma.
Part Five: Cataclysm
The shit really hits the fan during this segment of the game, as the heroes pursue Star Wolf to a mysterious and terrifying planet called Minerva to rescue Stroma. She's rescued early in the segment, and the heroes evade a massive trap that's been set for them, though they are separated into small groups once again. We learn more about Malphus' backstory, and how his world was a pariah world and that Rebecca, at that time the daughter of a Lockstarian ambassador, was the first person to reach out to the young prince and show him kindness. Malphus' world, known as Nox, was ostracized from the galaxy for practicing dark magic, but the planet had been beset by a terrible plague, and Lockstar's leaders, in a humanitarian attempt to help the people of Nox, reopened trade with them. As it turns out, Nox had turned a corner and was ready to renounce dark magic, but the prince had become a font of hatred, and all the planet's magic was becoming manifest within him. Through her love and friendship, Rebecca nearly stopped the darkness within Malphus, but unbeknownst to anyone, Malphus was in contact with another being via the galactic leylines: the evil Andross, who had become like a father figure to Malphus, and sought to use the young prince's dark magic to enhance his technology. Andross' influnce caused Malphus to lash out, causing a storm of evil to overwhelm the planet, killing many visiting Lockstarians. The only reason Rebecca and her family were spared is because they were offworld on another diplomatic mission at the time. Rebecca never learned why she wasn't able to go back and visit her young friend, while the planet was once again sealed off from the rest of the galaxy. Meanwhile, Malphus' evil continued to fester, and signs of his influence were present in the villains in both Star Fox: Hyperspace and X: Heroic Valor (the mysterious dark runes seen in both games). Rebecca still believes that the young prince she befriended is in there somewhere, and wants another chance to purge the evil from him. However, events on Minerva cause a great darkness to spread throughout the galaxy, and the rest of the chapter is spent cleaning up evil on various worlds. Andross and Malphus' dark plan to overwhelm the cosmos is about to be completed, but the heroes have developed a secret weapon of their own...
Part Six: The Battle To Save Everyone
The final few missions in the game start out in Corneria, which has been overwhelmed by a massive wave of Malphus' forces. However, after saving Corneria, the heroes gain the use of the Gargantua, which is used in a brief segment on the penultimate mission before finally being used extensively during the last mission, which takes place on Nox and which in and of itself is broken up into numerous segments (the final mission has three different "super checkpoints", where every other mission with these checkpoints only has one). The player gets to choose amongst many possible heroes for the first part of this final mission, though most of the rest of the mission takes place in Gargantua. Several bosses are fought here, though the heroes eventually fight Malphus. Rebecca tries one last time to reason with him, and this time she manages to get through, but just before Malphus seems like he'll purge the darkness from within, there's a terrifying transformation as Andross forcibly absorbs Malphus into a gigantic mech he's built to battle Star Fox. The final battle takes place in four phases: first, there's a straight-up battle between the mech and Gargantua, but after Gargantua is seemingly smashed up by the mech, the heroes have to eject, and the next phase of the battle requires the player to battle Andross' mech utilizing numerous methods, including the Arwing, the Hypercycle, both tanks, and on foot. After the mech is weakened, Shad, Fox, and Rebecca penetrate into the core of the mech on foot to free Malphus, the three battling Andross (who has a humanoid body and is in a powered armor suit to battle the three, the player can control any of the three heroes for this fight but once they've made their choice they can't switch) in the third phase. They save him, but he's fatally wounded taking a shot that was meant for Rebecca. With a tearful shout of "ANDROSS, YOU BASTARD!!!", Rebecca plunges both of her swords into Andross' heart, but he laughs and blasts Rebecca with a massive wave of energy, telling Rebecca that his "body" is an illusion and that his real self is in the mech. The dying Malphus transfers his magic into Rebecca, but her body is unable to handle it all, which is when Shad and Fox join hands with her and each of them accept a third of the energy. Using Malphus' energy, the three reform Gargantua into a much more powerful mech and engage Andross in battle for the final phase. Finally, after a truly epic fight in which all the heroes get one final epic line, Andross is completely obliterated and the galaxy is saved. There's an epic ending sequence in which the heroes get a big ceremony and an award and say their final goodbyes before parting to their separate squads to protect their own worlds once more.
Star Fox: Heroic Universe is universally praised by critics, though the game does have its flaws: it's a bit of a mess from a gameplay perspective, with some of the secrets being difficult to find. The plot also leans more toward giving everyone an epic moment rather than being truly coherent, though critics do agree it comes together in the end. Overall, the game does get a slightly better reception than Squad Four Upheaval, and indeed, is considered to be the best of the Argonautverse Wave games by most critics, with reviews averaging in the high 8s. To most fans, the game lives up to the hype, and sells incredibly well upon its worldwide release on September 19, 2006: it would sell around two million copies worldwide in its first week of release, and would continue to be a major seller during the holiday season, ultimately becoming one of the biggest financial successes of the year in the gaming industry. It's the culmination of a years-long project by Nintendo, and by all accounts, it succeeds overwhelmingly, while also cementing Argonaut as crucial to Nintendo's success. With the company entertaining striking out on its own, it puts Nintendo in an awkward position: there have been indications that many of the company's personnel would leave for other companies if Nintendo tried to purchase Argonaut outright, but if Nintendo didn't buy Argonaut, the company could begin developing games for other consoles: in particular, Apple. Rumors had been swirling about a possible meeting between Steve Jobs and Argonaut's Dylan Cuthbert, and while Nintendo held all of the company's IP (and thus there was no threat of Squad Four or Star Fox ever appearing on the iTwin), the company's creative and technological talent would be an enormous chip in Apple's pile.
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Argonaut Developing New IP For The Nintendo Wave In 2007
Nintendo has just announced a new IP in development by the software company Argonaut. The game, called Zeppelin Age, will be exclusive to the Nintendo Wave, and looks to be released sometime next year as early as the summer. The title will be a steampunk-style game featuring crews of aerial pirates battling it out in the skies over massive industrial cities, and while there hasn't been much else revealed about the game, Nintendo has announced it as "the symbol of a wonderful partnership between Nintendo and the talented developers at Argonaut". Rumors have swirled in the past few months about a possible partnership between Argonaut and Apple, with the prospect of an acquisition being floated in some corners of the internet. While rumors of an acquisition by Apple were highly suspect from when they were first reported, it is true that the relationship between Nintendo and Argonaut had grown increasingly contentious since 2005, with a statement from one programmer indicating that the company was being "creatively restricted". With new IP now on its way, combined with Nintendo's recent statement, it seems that things have at least cooled down between the companies, and that Argonaut projects are likely to remain Nintendo exclusive for at least the next few years.
-from an article on Games Over Matter, posted on October 10, 2006
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"Steve Jobs absolutely did offer us a good deal of money for the company, but what kept us with Nintendo was... well, it was two things. One of those things was a long discussion between myself and Satoru Iwata, where we discussed our favorite video games and where Mr. Iwata really seemed to understand our need to stretch our creative wings and get away from Star Fox and X for a while. We were getting burned out, and our work on Heroic Universe had really drained nearly everyone at the company, with Zeppelin Age being a respite from all that stress. Mr. Iwata offered us more freedom, and frankly, I never wanted to work for Steve Jobs anyway, I probably would've taken the money and gone and retired on a nice island somewhere if Apple had bought us up.
The second thing, and this gets a bit more sentimental, but... it was something that Shigeru Miyamoto had told me when I first pitched the original Squad Four to him. Our conversation was through a translator, but what he said to us was that Nintendo was in the business of making games that as many people as possible could enjoy, and that if we made Squad Four, we needed to make it into a game that would appeal to everyone, young and old, experienced, non-experienced... he told us that we could tell our story in our game, but do it in such a way that it wouldn't take away from the fun. The story had to serve the fun. It was inspiring, and frankly, the best possible advice we could've gotten at that time. I went back to the other higher-ups at Argonaut and reminded them about what Mr. Miyamoto had said, and that I felt we were best off sticking with Nintendo. To be honest, it wasn't much of a debate, I think all of us had a story like that. We didn't have anything about Steve Jobs, we just had all that money he was offering up, but with Heroic Universe pretty much a guaranteed success, we knew we'd be seeing that kind of money pretty soon anyway. I'm not going to say the money didn't matter, because of course it did, but Jobs wasn't offering enough. He knew he wasn't getting the Squad Four IP, or even X, he was just buying talent, and he didn't offer enough to buy us."
-Dylan Cuthbert, in an interview with The Nintendo Ninja, March 15, 2017
Hopefully some of the big games we have coming up soon get some love.
